COMMENTARY: Fighting an unfounded fraud flag

There are no consumer protection regulations in Nova Scotia or federally that govern an unfounded accusation of credit card fraud risk.

I’ve had my ups and downs as a credit card user.

When I was a poor weekly newspaper reporter many moons ago, I experienced the trauma of seeing a Royal Bank official take out a pair of scissors and cut my card in half.

That lesson in financial tough love stuck with me and I thought I was well past the learning stage in the credit universe. That is, until a few weeks ago.

In early February, I had visions of spring paddling in my head so I went online to rent a kayak from a Nova Scotia outfitter. After filling out the usual virtual forms, I hit “submit payment.”

Nothing.

I scrolled to the top of the page to see a message that rekindled memories of that fateful day in the Royal Bank: Your credit card has been declined.

I checked my address information, security codes and the other fields but all seemed to be in order. And yet, four submit payments later: Your credit card has been declined.

I contacted the outfitter company, which I won’t identify because I don’t want to tarnish their good name, to see if they had any idea what was going on. The business owner contacted his payment gateway, Stripe, who told him my card had been blocked as “a high fraud risk.”

My response to his email isn’t printable but let’s just sum it up with, what the heck?

The owner was perplexed as well: I’ve been his customer for many years and have used the same Mastercard number since 2015 without problem.

My problems with Stripe cropped up again a few days later when I tried to order tickets to a music festival in Halifax. The festival’s ticket company uses the San Francisco pay processor as well.

Same thing: We think you’re a criminal, now go away.

According to Mastercard, I’m not a criminal. In fact, a representative called my account (blush) “impeccable.” When I told them Stripe thinks I’m a far cry from impeccable, they passed me onto their fraud security department.

The security dude said unusual card activity, mismatching information and even fraud activity in my neighbourhood might trip a flag. But when I told him about the “high risk” description, he was nonplussed. That kind of response usually would be sparked by something serious and specific to my card.

And he said Mastercard can’t do anything about how a pay processor chooses to handle a particular transaction.

Despite weeks of emails, Stripe has yet to adequately explain the situation. The company contacted me after both local business owners complained. A representative named Patricia asked for the last four digits of my card number, the date, amount and currency of the rejected transaction and other information.

In her last email, Patrica said, “I’m not able to see what specifically triggered the charge (as) high-risk. In order for me to see this information, I’ll need the business to write in from their account regarding your charge so we can take a look into this. The business reaching out to us gives us access to look into their account and see what’s going on.”

I asked both local companies to do so but I’ve heard nothing else from Stripe.

I’ve encountered no other problems with my card, either through direct purchases or online transactions. And I did get my kayak and music fest tickets. Both the outfitter company and the music festival organizer were great and quickly “white-listed” my card to bypass Stripe’s censure.

But what if that wasn’t the case and the company in question passed on my bad name to credit rating agencies? Or even to the police?

If you think good old government has your back, think again. There are no federal or provincial regulations that protect consumers unfairly pinned as a high risk for credit card fraud. I checked with Access Nova Scotia’s consumer department and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, as well as the Public Interest Advocacy Centre in Ottawa.

“No rules, no rights,” said PIAC’s John Lawford in an admirably succinct email. “Subject to your cardholder agreement, end of story.”